A basic “no frills” website provides the viewing public with a certain amount of mostly static information in the form of one or more web pages that can be located, downloaded and viewed on a computer display using a web browser application. Such websites typically do not require any specific information about the client device computers and/or the users that access the web pages. This is one extreme. The other extreme are the websites that demand knowledge about the client devices and more particularly about the users.
Increasingly, these types of websites are becoming more complex and important computing resources for businesses and organizations around the world. As with other computing resources, there is a need to control user access, not only to protect the integrity of the website itself, but to also properly serve the users by controlling the type of information and processes exposed and/or the presentation of such information and features. Thus, for example, it is important for an online banking website to authenticate its users and present each user with information about their respective bank account(s) and specific features that may be available for their use.
There are also certain websites that fall in between these two extremes. For example, there may be times when certain users need to be known while other users may remain unknown to a website. One example is an entertainment website that allows users to actively participate in online games that are played alone or with other online users. Such websites tend to have some users that are registered users and other users that essentially signed-in as guest users (e.g., unknown/unregistered users). Guest users/accounts can be beneficial in that they allow new users to browse the website and try the services/games to get a taste for the experience without having to go through the extra steps of officially registering with the website.
Many entertainment websites are sponsor driven and thus it is important for them to attract and retain users that advertisers want to reach. Thus, it is important for these websites and others like them to provide easy to use interfaces such that new and existing users will continue to have good, if not excellent, experiences at the website.
Consequently, there is a continuing need for new and improved methods and apparatuses that can make the user sign-up/entry experience easier, faster and/or more pleasant for the users, and in particular new visiting users.